Varonha custom frame... And other ongoing stuff

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Bloody new page fail...

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Wow thats a thing. Looks brilliant. Well done all round.

Thanks vello, great photos

The Vaz's are cycling royalty.

The Vaz's are cycling royalty.

https://www.lfgss.com/comments/12141473/

An update with no update... 8 months later I still haven't decided on a new colour scheme, found the time to strip the bike, so I'm ashamed to confess the beautiful stem @skalliwag / Winston has made is not yet fitted...
Got rid of mudguards at the end of the summer though, and finally fitted the great wheels from @Fox (thank you!).
Happy now with 28c I think I'll stick to that for a while and need to find mudguards to fit as I would only fit the 45mm black hammered VO again if I was to revert to bigger tires. Thinking GB but they don't come in black, which might not be a problem depending on the new bike colour...

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Thinking GB but they don't come in black, which might not be a problem depending on the new bike colour...

Stainless looks good on any bike. Might be worth checking Honjo for black guards. $$$ though.

After riding this bike for over 5 years, almost daily, with hardly any maintenance, it came to the point where everything was running quite poorly, and needed proper comprehensive refurb to counteract the shameful lack of care...
So about a year ago I took it all apart to, with the ambition to get a new paint job by Mario, at the same time as having the custom stem and forks sprayed. Except I never got the time, didn't know what colour to go for (still don't), and started commuting on the road bike instead, while the poor Varonha frame was just been hanging neglected in the garage. Nonsense, it's my favorite/best bike.
So I'm now decided to make this happen. I've started to dig out the parts I've been collecting for it, and to visualise the build on my head. It's still all a bit fuzzy, but I've thrown the wheelset and bars to have something to push against.

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very nice - great to see the stem and forks on it

What you gonna go for groupo wise?

The stem with the double split is lovely @skalliwag.

Good to see this one back on the road Loic (well, soon enough). No idea on colour? At all?

very nice - great to see the stem and forks on it

What you gonna go for groupo wise?

Thanks!

The groupset is a puzzle I'm unable to crack at the moment. I'm always doing a bit of a dog 's dinner with components. I mix everything, Shimano, Campag, whatever's in the box, on sale, etc...

But I welcome guidance, my constraints / contradictory wishes are:

-I'd like to go with silver components
-I've got a brand new SRAM Rival crankset, in black
-I really want to use the Nitto bars on the picture, with these sweet non-aero Dura Ace brake levers.
-I hate (aesthetically) V brakes, I don't mind mini-Vs (have some brand new ones in a box, Shimano ones,quite like the look of them but they are black). I love old cantis, I've got some antique ones coming in the post, don't know if I can make them work efficiently (I now have a massive steep hill on my commute). Some old Shimano Deore from the early 90s tempt me a lot too.
-speaking of Deore, I forgot to bid on a rear long cage XT vintage derailleur tonight. But I'd love to find another one.
-front derailleur: something silver, top pull, nice?
-the wheelset on the photo is the one I'm likely to use, hubs are Hope, Shimano 10 speed compatible.

What a mess!

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No idea on colour? At all?

Metallic grey is where I'm at right now... Something classic. But couple month ago I was thinking pink!

Oh, and I need to get a new headset, I completely ruined the last one (never greased it in all these years)
Any recommendations for a silver 1 1/8 headset? Is the Velo Orange decent? Quite liked the idea of "the pig" (FSA) having read on here (thanks @edscoble ) that it comes with traditional ball bearings rather than cartridge (bottom race, is that right?).

The Pig’s headset have massive ball bearing in the lower cup than typically, I like the ideas that the bigger the bearing the less wear and tear.
There is also a more expensive version where the cartridge is also bigger than typically.

Sadly, the FSA are not in silver, check the M:Part Elite headset? You can buy new cartridge easily if needed.

I love old cantis, I've got some antique ones coming in the post, don't know if I can make them work efficiently (I now have a massive steep hill on my commute).

I’ve never managed to get cantis working to the level that I’d like, so I have a disc up front on my all rounder bike with a canti on the back. That said, fitting some Kool Stop salmon pads made a big difference so they might be worth trying.

Also look at Cane Creek 40 headset , available in silver and black.

Also look at Cane Creek 40 headset , available in silver and black.

Yes, but like the Pig, the silver version isn't available atm.

At risk of sounding like a #buyer, Chris King headsets are really good at fit and forget. I've honestly not touched the bearings in mine since installing it in 2011.

Thanks, I quite like this (although it's a bit ugly), feels more honest than the VO, slightly cheaper and probably similar quality...

There's that too, the frame deserves it...

[Edit] oh wow, I checked, I knew these were pricey but didn't realise to what extent... So no then (thought they were around £100 ish)

Have you thought about a Hope headset? Extremely well made and under £100

They come up on ebay every now and again for a lot less. Worth hunting down imo as they really are amazingly difficult to break.

Excited to see where this project goes : )

Hmm, non-metal grey with cream panels (think 50s /60s automotive paint)?

Another vote for Cane Creek 40 here.